Our entire experience with Palm Cottages was specifically with Memory Care, and that is the only part of the community I am reviewing.
Our tour was wonderful. The community was presented beautifully, our questions were answered, and we believed the small cottage environment would be a good fit for my mother-in-law, who has Parkinson's disease dementia. Our experience after move-in was drastically different.
On move-in day, no one greeted us or seemed prepared for her arrival. No senior staff helped with the transition, and no one engaged with my mother-in-law while we were there. I eventually had to ask what to do with her medications. Someone came and simply took them without reviewing anything with me.
Three days later, after my mother-in-law told me she wasn't receiving medication, I asked the main health aide in her cottage, Yoshi, how her medications were going. That question is the only reason we discovered she had not received her prescribed medications during her first three days at Palm Cottages.
The medication supervisor told us there was no Medication Administration Record (MAR) for her. The medications I brought on move-in day were still sitting in a cabinet and had not been administered. During that conversation, Yoshi showed me a large white pill she said she had periodically been giving my mother-in-law. We did not recognize it as one of her prescribed medications, and it was not among the medications we provided.
What followed were two late-night ER visits, one resulting in hospital admission. She entered Palm Cottages walking and talking. After the medication lapse and subsequent ER visits, she returned from the hospital no longer walking or talking. I am not claiming what medically caused that decline; I am describing the sequence our family experienced.
There were also no organized activities offered to my mother-in-law in Memory Care during her entire residency. This wasn't a matter of her declining activities—they weren't offered to her. During our frequent visits, we never witnessed organized activities inside the Memory Care cottages. She attended one Carnival elsewhere on the property only because our family personally came and took her.
We frequently observed residents sitting with little meaningful engagement while staff congregated together, used phones, wore earbuds, or played loud videos.
Food quality was consistently poor. More concerning, my mother-in-law needed her food cut up, but staff would do so if she asked. She could not reliably speak—that is precisely why she was living in Memory Care. We kept snacks in her room to ensure she had food she could manage.
We also personally witnessed Yoshi raise her voice at another Memory Care resident and physically grab, push, then pull that resident. My mother-in-law expressed fear of Yoshi to us on several occasions. We reported concerns to administration.
During a hospitalization, hospital care management recommended hospice for additional support. When I discussed this with Stacey Clark at Palm Cottages, she discouraged hospice; as I recall, she said having hospice involved would limit what Palm Cottages could do for my mother-in-law. Since leaving Palm Cottages, hospice has been an incredible addition to her care.
I am describing what our family personally experienced, observed, and was told by staff while she lived there.
If you are considering Palm Cottages Memory Care, look beyond the tour. Ask what actually happens inside the cottages. Ask where activities occur and who takes Memory Care residents. Ask how medications are handled on move-in day. Ask how nonverbal residents receive assistance at meals. Ask how complaints are escalated. Ask how Palm Cottages works with outside hospice providers.
Our tour was wonderful. Our experience after move-in was drastically different. I wish we had known to look beyond the tour before entrusting someone we love to their care.
I’ve been so disappointed with other assisted living facilities, felt like I wasn’t leaving my mom in good hands. Here the people are totally focused on making it the best experience possible, and I truly feel like I can trust them with the most important woman in the world to me. I’d give 6 stars if I could!
Carola is an amazing administrator. She handles problems with such grace and compassion it is almost baffling. The care staff shows every day how much they care for each and every single resident. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner is always amazing and the cooks are very knowledgeable about each persons diet and restrictions.
Palm Cottages has been a true blessing for our family. The staff is warm, attentive, and truly cares about each resident. The community is clean, safe, and full of life—my parent has made wonderful friends and loves the daily activities. The food is great, the atmosphere is peaceful, and the care is top-notch. We couldn’t ask for a better place!
cconstant baddle , never new what was going on , much leglect of wifes personal care and cleaning of her personal things , food not fit to eat , wife couldnt feed her self , staff didnt seem to notice or know it .... food her eating soup with her fingers while two staff stood 5 feet away talking to each other . when i asked Questions , office silenced staff to me , i could only speak to bosses . they owned her . glad she servied! not about help here , all about money ! its a buisness not care place . sad sad , one day they will all be old too ... they will reap what theyve sowed !cant tell you how many times I cleaned poo from my wife my self there , few times it was dryed and hard. was often !! rarely was cleaned well , this is just sick !!! 6500$ per month for neglect !! its a buisness not care !
Reviews and rating from Google, shown as Google publishes them for Palm Cottages of Rockledge. They are not PlaceWisely verified reviews and do not affect match scores or rankings.
